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Energy minister Newton Kambala was fired by President Lazarus Chakwera on 11 August, following his appearance at Lilongwe Magistrates Court on graft charges. Kambala had been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) two days earlier.

Alongside the change of energy minister in mid-September, President Samia Suhulu Hassan replaced the board and senior leadership of Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco). The national utility’s new managing director Maharage Chande previously worked at MultiChoice Africa, which owns cable TV channel DStv, where he was Tanzania managing director and then regional managing director for East and West Africa.

Local developer Sunrise Power and Transmission Company (SPTCL) has waived a $500m arbitral award owed to it by the federal government in relation to the 3GW Mambilla hydroelectric power (HEP) plant, and has ceased arbitral proceedings.

Mozambique’s hopes for attracting interest to its sixth licensing round need to be set against the increasingly pressing environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals set by international oil companies (IOCs).

A High Court ruling left critical questions unanswered over the UK government’s proposed $1.15bn funding for the Area 1 liquefied natural gas scheme in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. The Court of Appeal will now be asked to decide on what could provide an important legal precedent for export credit financing, writes James Gavin

Key partners in the giant Simandou iron ore project – potentially Africa’s biggest new minerals and infrastructure scheme – are thought to be close to finalising the terms of their joint development, although governance issues appear to have caused a last-minute delay.

Major trading houses are among those approaching potentially hugely lucrative cobalt and other energy transition plays in Democratic Republic of Congo with an eye to ESG concerns, as international scrutiny of mining practises – and especially the huge involvement of artisanal miners – intensifies as the world looks for inputs into its new electric vehicles and batteries, write Marc Howard and AE staff.

Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Eacc) is investigating a number of executives at Kenya Power and Lighting Company (Kenya Power) for alleged corruption.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya’s cabinet has been presented by his regime as bringing technocrats into key positions to improve the government’s performance, but critics say ministers are either too ‘apolitical’ to enact genuine change, or compromised by past business dealings. A strong signal comes with the presidency taking direct control of major state assets from other public sector bodies, write David Slater, Jon Marks and our Special Correspondent

Electricity generation across Nigeria reached 4GW in July, the Presidential Task Force on Power has announced. This is a step forward for Nigeria’s chronically underperforming industry, but shows that output remains way off peak demand of 14GW. Similarly, the transmission network’s capacity reached a new peak of 4.6GW as of 30 July, but this was not enough to fight off fierce criticism of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).TCN is run under management contract by Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International (MHI).

In her final report as public protector, Thuli Madonsela has documented evidence surrounding the relationship of national utility Eskom and its senior leadership with the influential Gupta family. The report – entitled State of Capture – outlines alleged improper conduct by President Jacob Zuma and other state officials in their dealings with the Guptas – Indian-born brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh (‘Tony’) – which may have led to the removal and appointment of ministers and officials at state-owned enterprises with the intention of awarding contracts to benefit Gupta businesses.

With chief executive Brian Molefe resigning under a cloud and in the wake of another credit downgrade by Standard and Poor’s (S&P), Eskom’s board has plumped for the continuity candidate by appointing head of generation Matshela Koko as interim boss. Always the most likely successor to Molefe, at least in the short term, Koko is an outspoken critic of renewable energy and a vocal supporter of nuclear power. He also played a role in the public protector report that resulted in Molefe’s resignation and was suspended along with three other executives in 2015.

He argued that Madonsela’s determination to release the report herself, rather than leave it to her office to complete after she had left, meant she had not put “intended disclosures to me first – as she was by law required to do. She has effectively deferred my constitutional right to be heard to a future date, and to a further body, which she has ordered others to assemble”. He added: “I am confident that, when the time comes, I will be able to show that I have done nothing wrong and that my name will be cleared.”

The South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) has made an official complaint to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) about Eskom. The utility has been refusing to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs) selected by the Department of Energy to develop projects, claiming that the projects do not represent value for money. Eskom head of generation Matshela Koko on 20 October told City Press that the Treasury should be funding the cost of renewable energy through the R200bn ($14.4bn) contingent liability it took on to guarantee the renewable energy IPP procurement programme (REIPPP), rather than the costs being passed on to consumers.

President Jacob Zuma’s 9 February State of the Nation address helped distract the media from the release of a report put together by law firm Dentons in 2015 at the request of Eskom’s board as the utility teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. The scope of the investigation was cut following the submission of initial drafts to Eskom. The release followed pressure by several South African media groups and the opposition Democratic Alliance using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).